Thunderstorms
by your royal highness
Summary: Casey's afraid of thunderstorms and can't sleep, so she goes to Derek in the middle of the night. Dasey One-shot


**Disclaimer: I do not own LWD**

The hard rain poured on the roof over Casey McDonald's head. She winced at the vibrating sound that each droplet made as it hit the windows.

The panes of glass were coated in the water, making it impossible to look through. There was a large clap of thunder, and she let out a girly shriek and pulled the covers over her head.

She'd never liked thunderstorms, and her Mom and Lizzie never understood. She didn't understand how they _could_ like thunderstorms. They weren't calming like Mom said, in fact, they were life-threatening and dangerously scary to Casey. And, okay, they were good to the ecosystem like Lizzie said, but that wasn't the point. How could they like them?

She slung her legs over the edge of her bed and grabbed the red, silk bathrobe that Derek had bought her for her birthday as a 'sorry for ruining your birthday' present off of her bed post. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed out of her bedroom and across the hallway, making sure to miss all of the parts of the ground that squeaked as she made it towards Derek's room.

She didn't really even know why she was doing going to his room, she didn't really have a reason besides the fact that she was completely afraid of thunderstorms, and part of her hoped that Derek would understand, even though that chance was slim to none.

She opened the door silently, even though it creaked as she pushed it open.

His room was dark; the only light shining through was the moonlight that was reflecting onto the floor, highlighting a couple of random objects that he left lying on his disgusting floor. Her eyes scanned towards his bed where she saw a big lump that seemed to be deep in sleep. One arm was hanging off of the bed, and she smiled. He looked…serene and…well, to be quite honest, amazing.

There was another large clap of thunder, and she squeaked again, this time, tripping over some of his clothes that were discarded as she landed on her butt. He grunted and turned over, his face facing in her direction.

"Derek." She whispered, standing up, rubbing her sore butt. _That's gonna bruise in the morning. If Derek wasn't such a freaking slob…_ "Derek." She whispered again, daring to let her voice grow louder. She tugged on the sleeve of his night shirt. "Derek!" She whispered for the third time, and he grunted again, moving his body uncomfortably in his sheets as he awoke.

"What?" he groaned, his eyes staying closed shut.

"You awake?"

"I am now. What do you want Case? Go to bed." He mumbled, shoving his arm in a motion that said 'Go' as he let it fall like one of a rag dolls.

"But I can't."

"Why not? The mattress isn't soft enough?"

"No…"

"The sheets are crisp enough?"

"No…"

"The pillow isn't fluffy enough?"

"No…."

"Then _what_, Princess?" He groaned again, still refusing to open his eyes.

"You're just going to make fun of me…"

"Casey, I'm going to make fun of you no matter what, so just tell me."

But, before she could answer, there was another louder clap of thunder, and she squeaked again, a little louder this time, as she started moving closer to Derek.

"Huh? What? What happened?" He bolted up in bed, rubbing his eyes as they adjusted so that he could see Casey standing there, shaking with all her might. "What the hell just happened?"

"There was thunder. There's a thunderstorm." Casey chattered out, and Derek leaned back against his pillows and groaned, banging his head again and again on the pillow.

"_That's_ what you came in to tell me about?"

"Yes." She meekly said.

"Oh my god…" He groaned. "Why me?" He asked to the ceiling.

"Can you just…I don't know…"

"Casey. Go to bed." He turned over, his back facing her, and Casey continued to stand there. She wasn't leaving till Derek helped her. With what, she really, honestly, didn't know. After about two minutes, he turned back around. "Why are you still here? I thought I told you to leave, princess."

"You know, Derek…when I was nine, and even more frightened about thunderstorms, my Mom and Dad would let me go to bed with them. Sadly though, a couple of months before they got divorced, they refused to let me crawl into their bed. They told me to just find someone else to curl up next to."

"So go to Lizzie, that's what you used to do, right?"

"No. Lizzie kicked me out. So I just didn't sleep."

"Great. So now I'm gonna hear how cranky and tired you are all day, now?" He groaned again, banging his pillow again against his head. "Great."

"Not really…can't I just sleep here? With you?"

He bolted his head up again and stared at her as if she was completely crazy. "Sleep? In my bed? With me? Huh? I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you, Derek." She rolled her eyes. "You just annoy me sometimes."

"Sometimes?" He scoffed, and laughed.

There was another clap of thunder, and Casey moaned, getting impatient. "Derek, please?"

"Fine." He said, settling into his covers. She walked around to the other side of the bed and crawled in, the cool sheets covering her body. She cuddled up next to Derek, but he shoved her away.

"What?" She asked, shocked.

"What are you doing?"

"My mom would always hold me and tell me that everything was all right."

"Well I'm not holding you or telling you that everything is all right, 'cause nothing is all right. I'm awake at three in the freaking morning, and you're in my bed pestering me. Go to your mom, god damn it."

"No."

"Well then shut up and go to sleep." Derek said, and Casey didn't say anything; she just continued to lie there, staring at the ceiling, the covers pulled towards her neck.

"Ughh…" Derek moaned after a couple of minutes passed. "I can't go to sleep at all. Thanks, Case."

"Sorry." She mumbled, and another clap of thunder came, forcing her to bring the covers closer around her.

_Something's really been buggin' her._

"Wanna talk?" Derek blurted out.

"Talk?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, just talk."

"About what? We've never _just talked_."

"I know."

"Derek?"

"Hmm?" He asked, his eyelids drooping, but he must stay awake.

"How come we never just sit down and have a normal conversation like I do with Emily and you do with Sam? How come the only time we're speaking normally is when we're scheming things?"

Derek paused and stared at her.

Even though it was dark, he could still make out her slender form, her head lying on the pillow. Her questioning eyes were staring up at him, waiting for his response. "You know what?"

"Hm?"

"Let's just go to bed."

"But you never answered my question!" Casey protested, sitting up as Derek settled back down in bed, thankful that he found a way to ignore the question completely.

"I'm not going to." He said. "Now go to bed, or else I'm gonna send you back to your room all by yourself."

"Jerk."

"Thank you." He smirked, and she rolled her eyes as she lay down next to him. As he was just about to close his eyes and go to sleep, he heard a sniff coming from Casey as the rain continued to clobber on the rooftop. "Are you…are you _crying_?" he asked as he turned around to face her, hoping that she'd say no. His face was just inches away from hers, and she shook her head negatively, causing Derek to emit a small sigh of relief. "Thank god."

"Derek?"

"What now?" He asked as the annoyed tone in his voice returned.

"Can you answer my question now?"

"No." He said, firmly.

"Why not?"

"Go away, Case."

"I'm not going anywhere. Why are you afraid to talk to me?"

That was it.

She had nailed it on the head.

He was afraid.

"I'm…"

"Afraid you'll actually let a part of your screwed up heart belong to me?" She butted in, before he could finish his sentence.

"Too late…" Derek mumbled, but, thankfully, Casey didn't hear it.

"Come on, Derek, admit it. You don't want to feel anything."

"I will never feel anything for _you_." He spat.

Casey rolled her eyes. "Why did I even come to you?"

"I've been asking myself the same question."

"You're such a…a…a…"

"Jerk?" He asked, and she fumed. "I guess so." He smirked. She stared up at the ceiling as the thunder clapped again, and she shook in fear. "Okay, answer _my_ question." Derek said, and Casey stared at him.

"What?"

"Why are you so afraid of thunderstorms?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You were nine, Case. It shouldn't be that big of a deal."

"Oh, but it is a big deal, Derek, but you wouldn't know it cause you never let anyone into your heart."

"Well-" Derek started, but she cut him off.

"Okay, I was actually eight-"

"You said you were nine."

"I know, but the event happened when I was eight and in second grade. Lizzie was just three. She doesn't remember anything."

"So what happened?" Derek asked, placing his arm so that it was around her pillow, just in case he'd have to wrap it around her to prevent her from crying.

"So it was a really stormy night, worse than this, and the electricity didn't work, so we couldn't cook anything for dinner. The only town that had electricity was thirty minutes away, and my Dad, my sweet, sweet Dad decided to go and pick up a pizza from the pizzeria. So he left, and about two hours later, he hadn't returned. So we waited for about another hour, and he still didn't come back. We tried to call him, but he didn't pick up his phone, and then we got a phone call from the hospital saying that he lost control of his car and it skidded off of the road. I was too young to remember most of the details, but my Dad, I mean, he came back, but he still has to go in for monthly check-ups because he screwed up some organ in his body. I didn't remember much of what happened after that, but there's just that something in me that makes me fear my life when there's a thunderstorm."

Derek wrapped his arm around Casey's shoulder, pulling her close to him. "You know, normally, I'd laugh, but this?" She looked up at him. "I can't. I'm sorry."

She smiled. "Aw, thanks for listening, Der."

"No problem. Now, can we try to go to sleep now?"

"Now, yes." She smiled and rested her head on his chest. He lightly gave her a kiss on the cheek before she fell asleep for the first time during a thunderstorm.


End file.
